


Protection

by essence_of_annoying



Category: That Guy with the Glasses/Channel Awesome
Genre: Other, TGWTG Kink Meme, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:20:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21845050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/essence_of_annoying/pseuds/essence_of_annoying
Summary: From an old kink meme prompt: "Benny's apparent crush on Hyper in the Cinderella review intrigued me. Can we have him pining for her while she obsesses over Critic? Unrequited love all the way."
Relationships: Benny the Assassin & Hyper Fangirl, Benny the Assassin/Hyper Fangirl
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Protection

**Author's Note:**

> this is a spiritual rewrite/sequel/prequel??? of "duty calls" because i still love the concept of benny having a thing for hyper and this will ideally not be the last you see of it.

The first thing they taught you in assassin training was to avoid social media, lest you be easily noticeable. This was difficult for Benny to do. He worked for Hyper Fangirl.

Hyper carefully crafted every picture on her Facebook to appear perky and approachable to her adoring fans, and because Benny was hanging out with her again despite his better judgments, she included him in this one. Benny had already fulfilled his kill quota for the day (long story short, some asshole tried to take the last Chocolate Lucky Charms from her, and now there was a massive cleanup needed in the cereal aisle.), but engaging in this sort of thing placated her so she was less likely to have a breakdown and/or get herself hurt trying to track down Critic. So popping up in her selfies was a sacrifice he was willing to make. Besides, everyone on that page had seen him before on _Nostalgia Critic_ proper. No need for redundant fears of being recognized.  
She flashed a deceptively innocent smile, and he followed suit with a more subdued grin. After it posted, she turned around and showed him the picture. "Look how cute we are!" she bounced up and down.

Benny dropped his photo-friendly smile and turned away, a bit flushed. "I don't really consider myself 'cute'."

"We both look good, and you know it. You got your dapper suit and everything, people are gonna love it!"

And then Benny's smile came back. Maybe it was because she was usually so self-centered, and usually ignored him until he was of use to her, but Hyper complimenting him always felt...oddly special.

She fell back onto the couch and scrolled down her Facebook. Benny sat by her. He knew what was coming. He'd seen it every time after she posted. The facade would fall and she'd begin to spiral. He counted down in his head- he gave her 19.5 seconds.

It was only fourteen seconds of scrolling when Hyper's smile began to waiver. That was, of course, when she saw him on her feed. Only five seconds of hesitation before she asked, "Do you think Critic is gonna like my photo?"

And thus ended the brief period of the day where she wasn't bogged down by her need for Critic's approval. She was slowly growing out of her possessive instinct, but it was a long process. Back when threatening Critic was his main job, Benny would have gone along with her impulses to just "drop in and say hi", but now he got paid for just hanging around, so it was better to dissuade her from that kind of thing. 

"It doesn't matter what he thinks," Benny told Hyper straight-up. "As long as you're happy with it."

"Do you think most people will like it though?" Hyper blinked at Benny, unsure. "'Cause like, I know I look good, of course, _of course!_ But, you know, it's nice to hear-"

"You look fine." She still looked worried, so Benny caved and told her what she wanted to hear. "And everyone else will think so too."

A little smile crept over Hyper's face. Even though her targets were often a waste of time, Hyper's enthusiasm was quite cute sometimes. She'd given a very endearing cheer earlier after Benny shot that guy in the stomach and snatched back the cereal box, but her subtler cuter moments also deserved appreciation.

Then Hyper caught Benny by surprise- something very hard to do- by wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you, Benny," she told him. "I should tip you extra for the day, you're so nice."

Benny gulped. "It's free of charge." Unlike most civilians, he could easily escape from her warm choke hold of a hug. He just...didn't really want to. 

She really was one of the few clients to be this close to him. Granted, it was her nature to smother every person she met with affection, but due to how few other options she had, she really treated Benny as a friend, not just the guy that shoots things. So her cuddly moments made him feel...disturbingly warm. The kind of warmth he tried to restrict to his private Jane Austen readings, because pursuing those feelings in his line of work was a risky move, especially when they stemmed from his employer.

She sniffed his suit a bit. "You still smell like blood and marshmallow bits," she snickered.

Benny smoothed out his suit. "Maybe we should hit up the dry cleaners."

Hyper let go of Benny and sat up. "Oh, that's good, 'cause the studio is right next to the laundromat, so we can just check in to see if Critic liked my photo!"

Benny sighed. This hurt for a multitude of reasons. "You can't just check your notifications and wait?"

The little stalker shook her head. "Oh, that's not as strong a guarantee. I want to know for _sure_ that the love of my life got a chance to see me looking my finest." She ruffled her tangled hair. "I'm sure he'd like to see it, anyway." 

She never fully learned her lesson. Benny had no idea how to convince her at this point. Maybe opening up to her about himself would help, but that wasn't his job. He was officially her hired guns and unofficially her shoulder to cry on, and he could not drag her into a forbidden romance- a titillating concept for sure, but not a good idea for a recovering control freak like her. Again, he was protecting her from herself.

But it was hard to say no to her pleading puppy-dog eyes.

"We'll go to Critic's and then to the laundry." He picked up his gun. "That way we're covered if anything gets...messy."

Hyper sweetly patted Benny's arm and dashed outside with her usual gusto. Benny kept up right behind her.

The second thing they taught you in assassin training was not to fall in love.


End file.
